- Title
- The Towerlight, April 16, 1987
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- Identifier
- tl19870416
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- Subjects
- ["United States. Army. Reserve Officers' Training Corps","Motion pictures -- Reviews","Student government","Student publications","Student activities","College sports","Towson University -- History","Religion","College students -- Conduct of life","Smoking","College students"]
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- Description
- The April 16, 1987 issue of The Towerlight, the student newspaper of the Towson State University.
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- Date Created
- 16 April 1987
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- Format
- ["pdf"]
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- Language
- ["English"]
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- Collection Name
- ["Towson University Student Newspaper Collection"]
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The Towerlight, April 16, 1987
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tl19870416-000 "Inside Lacrosse Men's and women's lacrosse teams enjoy good week. See stories.. Page 3. Vol. 80 No. 23 � The TowerlightPublished weekly by the students of Towson State University Towson. MD 21204 Index news 1 sports 3, 4 classifieds 2, 7, 8 features & entertainment 5, 6 editorial & perspectives weekwatcher 10 April 16, 1987 Accident leads to arrest, suspension hy Stephanie Robinson News reporter A March 13 traffic accident in-volving a Towson State University Professor and a student has led to a warrant being issued for the stu-dent's arrest on assault charges and a one-year suspension from the University for the student. The emergency suspension is un-der appeal. According to police records, Wil-liam ""Rodney"" Lawson's 1978 bodge van, in order to avoid a car that was backing up, hit an '86 Suick Skylark on Stevenson Lane I n Towson belonging to Lynette dwards, a management pro-fessor at Towson State University. The police records state that the two exchanged words. A report Edwards filed with the District Court of Maryland to have a war-rant issued for Lawson's arrest, 8aid Lawson assaulted Edwards, !ailing her a ""f b-/--"" and 'Stupid a "" when she attempted to get insurance information from him. Edwards' report states, ""...I walked to the van to write down his tag �umber. He then threatened me saving, T11 getyou,you f h----'! told him he was in trouble as I was going to the campus police. He grabbed the door of my car and we struggled--I was trying to close it, he was trying to pull it open....He again threatened me saying, 'You ----- you a , I know what You look like and what your car looks like-you're too f stupid to teach here, I'll get you, you f b----."" Edwards went on to say in her report, ""I am a full-time, tenure track facult3; member of six years standing at T.S.U. and was at the time, and continue to be, extremely frightened of this student and feel very threatened."" Lawson, in an interview, denied calling Edwards anything more than a ""stupid b----."" He also denied threatening Edwards or her car with harm. His report states that Edwards was the first to resort to namecalling, calling Lawson a ""stupid idiot."" Lawson also stated that Ed-wards said, ""I'm going to get your ass"" and that he ""better hope I don't have you in my class, boy."" Edwards report, however, makes no mention of her telling Lawson that she was going to ""get"" him. Lawson said that he struggled with Edwards over the closing of her car door because during the argument he had rested his hand on her car. According to Lawson, if she had closed her door his hand would have been smashed. Because of the incident, Lawson, a transfer student who has attended the University for three years, has been arrested with a criminal hearing pending for as-sault. He has been suspended from the University for one year after being put on emergency suspen-sion March 18, five days after the incident. The emergency suspension was ordered by Dorothy Siegel, vice president of Student Services, prior to a Judicial Board hearing. Siegel said an emergency sus-pension of a student is an option when any member of the campus community feels threatened by another. ""It's always a judgement call as to whether a behavior poses a threat,"" Siegel said. Speaking on the severity of a one-year suspension, Siegel con-ceded to the harshness of it. She also said, not necessarily speaking of Lawson's case, the decision of suspension length is based on the past record of the individual involved. Lawson has initiated an appeal of the emergency suspension that was to be heard yesterday. He has contracted the services of a lawyer, contacted the University's Black Student Union (BSU) and the Uni-ersity's chapter of the National Association of Colored People (NAACP). _ r`I think being black is making it worse for me,"" he said. The BSU agrees. Paul Gray, president of the BSU and Lawson's fraternity bro-ther, said race is an influence on Lawson's case. Gray said, ""No one's running around saying `nigger' but you know it's there."" Gray said the BSU is going to write protest letters to the admini-stration and The Towerlight. ""The problem is you don't get a year suspension for verbal assault. Since there's no witness, how can you say who's right and who's wrong? both should be treated as adults. Towson takes the word of teachers far too much,"" Gray said. Zena Chapman, secretary for the University's NAACP chapter, statesthat like the BSU, it is taking action on Lawson's behalf. The NAACP has sent a letter to the University President Hoke Smith asking that Lawson's penalty be investigated and reduced to a punishment that protects both parties' best interests. According to Phyllis A. Dawes, University chapter advisor and a member of NAACP's executive committee, ""We are concerned that it [the penaityi is too harsh."" Chapman said the group, which Lawson is a member of, is prepared to go ""as far as necessary"" and may organize a protest if the letter ineffective. A group of students have begun circulating a petition to have Lawson's suspension reduced or abolished. Written by Rodney Keller, treasurer of the NAACP chapter and BSU secretary, the petition states, ""We the students and faculty at Towson State Uni-versity feel collectively that the suspension of William Rodney Lawson was far too harsh of a penalty. We hope this petition will lessen or abolish this severe penalty totally."" Lawson's own appeal of the out-come of his March 23 emergency suspension hearing is on the grounds that his rights have been violated for the following reasons: ""a flaw in my right of due process, evident bias in the decision of the hearing body, overly severe sanction imposed, and insufficient consideration of all aspects of the situation."" Lawson's District Court trial is scheduled for May 26. 1SGA considers political funding by Robert M. Graham and Lisa M. Quill News editor and News reporter A bill introduced to the Towson State University Student Govern- Inent Association Tuesday calls for a $250 budget allocation each aemester for all SGA-affiliated Political organizations. , The bill is to be considered this week by Government Operations. Its recommendation could send the bill to a Senate vote as early as this Tuesday. Senator Darby Simmons, the bil1'8 sponsor, said he introduced the bill after seeing the problems Students Against Nuclear Des-truction (STAND) had getting rooney for their Nicarauguan and South African speakers. STAND asked for $200, but was denied the tlioney by the last Senate. The Senate said STAND was a polit-ical organization, and has for several years refused to fund Political organizations because of ri Financial Advisory Board guideline. Simmons' bill would change that guideline to the pleasure of all �f the University's political �rganizations. Mike Burton, a former senator that sponsored similar legislation last year, said the allocation would give these groups ""the same thing the other groups get."" He said debts incurred by political organi-zations are assumed by the members. Don Karmasek, the Young Demo-crats president, said the legislation is long overdue. ""A lot of people are realizing that the College Repub-licans and Young Democrats can't do a'lot of what we want,"" he said. ""There is a legitimate need for whatever they give us,"" he added. Terrence Casey, the College Republicans president, agrees with Karmasek. ""If we have money we can do things,"" he said. With $250 a semester, Casey said his group ""could do a lot."" He explained that the College Repub-licans have had "" a running debt for four years."" He added, ""There is no real way to make money; some things we tried got us in debt."" According to Casey, a campaign the College Republicans waged against the Nuclear Free Zone referendum cost his group $100. STAND, which considers itself a social awareness group, would not want to be considered a political organization by the SGA, according to President Joe Delia. ""Right now we are strictly a social awareness organization,"" he said. The SGA recognizes three campus groups as political organization: Young Democrats, College Republi-cans and STAND. Simmons said he is going to attend the Government Oper-ations meeting and attempt to alter his original bill. He will change the wording of the bill to say ""up to $150 maximum"" for a political organization. Nominations sought by Robert M. Graham News editor Nominations are being accepted for the Second Annual Towson State University Mug Awards, according to Paul Brown, assis-tant to the dean of Student Services. The awards are given to faculty members who are usually not formally recognized for their con-tributions to the University. Only University students can nominate faculty members who have helped them with some aspect of college life, Brown said. Last year, 14 awards were issued to faculty and staff members. Brown said nominations are being accepted in room 313 of the Univer- 'sity Union until May 4. People wishing to serve on the selection cOmmittee are also encouraged to contact Brown. ""Baby M"" to be discussed by Robert M. Graham News editor A Lutheran minister and a Towson State University history professor will discuss the Baby M decision and its implications with students, faculty and staff Thurs-day, April 23 in Room 311 of the Senior wins $1,000 in game contest Lila Nappi holds the $1,000 check from MADDAK she won In a board game contest. by Robert M. Graham News editor A Towson State University senior last week was awarded . $1,000 for her problem solving game entered in an American Occupational Therapy Associa-tion Conference contest in Indianapolis. Lila Nappi, an Occupational Therapy and Psychology major, won the money for a game she said is similar to `Trivial Pursuit"" and ""Scruples."" ""The game facilitates a balance of work, rest and play, and it pro-motes solving as an adaptive response,"" she said. MADDAK, a New Jersey based g adaptive device company, spon-sored the conference and contest, which allowed registered Occupa-tional Therapists and Occu-s pational Therapy students to dis-cuss new ideas and professional concerns in the field. Nappi said she plans to use her award money to get her game mass-produced. ""I'm expecting MAD-DAK to contact me about it,"" she said. University Union. Andrea Beagle, an area Luthe-ran minister, and Mark Whitman, a University history professor, will offer their observations on the landmark decision at the informal discussion, sponsored by the Office of Student Services. The discussion is the first of what the Office of Student Services is calling Topic Talks. According to Tracy Miller, director of special projects and the organizer, similar discussion sessions will be organized at approximately one-month intervals for next year. Photo by Alexandra Landau Karol Borowski, a Towson State Political Science professor, discussed the impact and implications of TV evangelism on the American public. Television evangelism reaches the people ""willing to listen"" by Robert M. Graham News editor The increase in popularity of tel-evision evangelism can be attrib-uted to its ""open approach to American society"" and the fact that the Ameican people are ""w il-ling to listen,"" said Dr. Karol Borowski, a Towson State Univer-sity professor who studies politics and religion. Borowski, in a lecture last Wed-nesday entitled, ""TV Evangelism: Religion, Politics, Money,"" dis-cussed the methods of conveying the message to the public and the impact the television evangelist's message has on the public. ""They (television evangelists) offer easy answers to very, very complicated questions,"" Borowski said. ""The TV evangelists make it easier to solve them problems on television than to solve them in the real world."" According to statistics, Borowski said six to nine percent of the national television audience watch evangelical shows. More-over, practicing evangelists are on the increase, too. In the seventies 35 evangelists preached on televi-sion, compared to the 60 preaching today. ""Television evangelists have a greater unrestricted access to the media than any other group,"" Borowski said. The television evangelists per-sonalities are what Borowski cred-its with their success. He called it the ""show business flow personal-ity."" Borowski cited theii personal-ities and three other reasons for their success: their use of themes that generate a good audience response; their use of ""dramatic stories of life experiences, and life events""; and their ""easy answers to the complicated questions."" Television evangelism is no longer concerning itself with reli-gious issues, according to Borowski. ""They offer well-developed programs that are inter-mingling issues,"" he said. As an example of this movement SGA approves new Board members by Doug Wood News reporter Five students were appointed to the Towson State University Stu-dent Government Association Judical Board at last Tuesday's Senate meeting. The students are Anne Haddaway, Mike collins, Michele Dowling, SGA Director of Communications Joe Dulany, and former SGA Senator Chuck Lee. All appointments were approved by consent. Additionally, one constitution and two bills were introduced at the meeting. The constitution of the Towson State University Pre- Law Society was referred to the Government Operations corn-xnittee. Senate Bill 1987-88#'2 is an act to allocate a supplemental budget of $500.00 to the Rugby Club for coaching fees. This bill, introduced as a reslut of debate several weeks ago about a loss of The Rugby Clubs coaching funds, was refer-red to the Appropriations committee. Senate Bill 1987-88 #3 is an act to revise Financial Advisory Board regulations to state, ""All SGA affiliated groups which are also politically affiliated, will be funded a set fee of $250.00 per smester."" Presently, any groups which are politically affiliated do no receive any SGA funding. The bill was referred to the Appro-priations committee. into social and political issues, Borowski discussed the Rev. ""Pat"" Robertson's candidacy for the Republican presidential nomi-nation. Borowski said that Robert-son got 3 million signatures on petitions and many monetary donations for his campaign. ""After meeting with the Lord for 25 years, Robertson knows voice and knows the situation,"" Borowski said of Robertson's desire to run for president. Borowski said the recent Jim Bakker scandal might ""diminish Robertson's chances,"" but he wasn't sure. About Oral Robert's plea for money after hearing a message from God saying that he would die by April if he did not raise $8 mil-lion. for his medical facility, Borowski said Roberts may have ""temporarily diminished the cred-ibility"" of all television evangelists. About Roberts new plea for money after evangelism viewer donations, Borowski said, ""I don't blame him. He started something, and if you start something that is successful, you want to continue it."" Borowski said the average tele-vision evangelism viewer ,contri butes $20 annually to evangelical prograrns.He said the money usu-ally gets put back into the televi-sion programs conveying themes-sage. Some evangelists put 2 bil-lion into their programming last year. In 1977, the average pro-graming expense for an evangelist was only $500,000. ""The programs are for the mes-sage,"" Borowski said. Television evangelism affects college students like all other seg-ments of the population, Borowski said. He said the college students watch the evangelists convey their messge to college students through their universities, likeOral Roberts University and others like it. For the evangelists' religious crusades, Borowski said often the evangelists will set up a headquar-ters at a college. ""Participation of students in crusades is usually high,"" the said. Borowski said the conservative movement by college students on the nations college campuses makes the evangelists' messages more acceptable to students. The lecture, attended by approx-imately 25 people, was sponsored by The Academia of Politics and Religion, a group awaiting Stu-dent Government approval for affiliation. After the lecture Borowski, one of the group's faculty advisors, said the group was established to discuss academically the relation-ship between religion and politics. The concept for forming the group was and outgrowth of the positive response to the ""Politics and Religion"" symposium held at Towson State last November, Borowski said. If they receive SGA approval for their affiliation, the group will embark on electing officers and organizing events for next year. According to Borowski, the group is the only one established with this purpose. "
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